The hair at the back of his neck rose and Matt snapped his gaze to the window. He drew in a slow breath. “It’s too late. They’re already here.”
Maddy’s gasp drew his attention back to her and his mouth thinned, his gaze going to Effy drawing in her book.
“To hell with it, Matt. I’m on my way to help you.”
“No. Do not blow your cover. That’s an order, my friend.”
Matt closed the phone and stuffed it in his pocket. Maddy’s face was ashen and wished he could give his life to spare her and Effy the danger they were all in.
****
“Who was that?’ Maddy asked, frightened by the expression on his face.
“It was James.”
Tight-lipped, he strode to his bags and pulled out a small revolver from one of the flaps. He checked the chamber as he shot a quick glance at the window. Garos’s men had the house surrounded. Matt had to work fast.
He strode to Maddy. “Here. Take this. You just have to aim and shoot.” Maddy gasped. “There’s no time to explain. Effy, I want you to go upstairs and hide under your bed. Do not come out until I tell you.”
Effy’s face crumbled as her gaze darted to the window. “Auntie Mad, there’s bad people outside. They want you.”
“Effy, go upstairs and do as I say,” Matt interjected, his tone growing hard. Effy looked at him and her quivered. “I won’t let anyone hurt you or your aunt. I promise you,” he said, his tone softening.
Effy nodded, her eyes filling with tears. Maddy felt helpless. Her niece was terrified and there was nothing she could do about it. She took Effy’s hand. “Come, sweetheart. You have to be a brave little girl and do as Matt says. Everything will be all right. I promise.”
She led her niece to the stairs and gave her a gentle push. “Go.” Effy sobbed as she ran up the stairs. Dear God, what if they couldn’t protect her? What if Maddy was wrong and everything wasn’t going to be all right? Her eyes burned as she rushed back into the living room. She saw Matt drop his cell on the coffee table.
“I called for backup. We need to hold off Garos’s men until help arrives,” he said. “You’re going to stay here and aim at the front door.”
“Matt, I’m scared. I don’t know if I can kill anyone.”
“You won’t. The gun is loaded with quicksilver, remember?”
Maddy gripped the gun with both hands and pointed it at the door, her mind going to Effy upstairs. A fierce sense of maternal love rose from her breast and she tightened her mouth. Her intense need to protect Effy was so powerful, her breath caught. No one was going to take her away from Effy.
“What are they doing out there?” She asked, her voice trembling with fear. “Why haven’t they barged through the door?”
“They’re preparing to attack. Stay here. I’m going out the back. If anyone, but myself comes through that door, shoot.”
“No! You’ll be out there alone.”
“I have battled more than one lycan in my life and survived.”
“Matt, what am I going to do if something happens to you?” Her tears spilled and she rubbed her arm over her face, her grip still firm on the gun.
In two strides, Matt stood before her with a fierce expression on his face. He grabbed the back of her head with his hand as he lowered his head and his mouth crashed over hers. Maddy whimpered when he released her.
“Nothing will happen to me,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I love you, do you understand me? And I love Effy. I will raise heaven and hell to protect you two.”
Maddy nodded. She wanted to be brave. She wanted to believe him. She shivered under the intensity of his dark gaze.
“I love you,” he growled and turned away.
She held her breath as she heard him leave from the back door. She prayed for his safe return. Within moments, she heard the ominous sounds of growls and snarls from her front yard. Maddy clenched the gun, praying the residents of her street stayed indoors.
Two shots rang out and she flinched. The sounds of growls and thrashing continued outside and she knew Matt was still alive. Maddy was dizzy with relief. Her mind ran to Effy and Maddy released a strangled sob. Her niece must have been terrified hiding under the bed. A part of Maddy wanted to run upstairs and hold her, while another part of her knew she must do as Matt said and guard the front door.
Another two shots rang out and she stiffened, waiting to hear the sounds of battle continue. Maddy choked back on a sob when she met silence. Suddenly, her front door exploded and she shrieked, nearly dropping the gun.
Two lycan beasts stumbled into her hall, their talons ripping flesh, their jaws clamping down on bone. She stumbled backwards as they rolled toward her. She recognized Matt’s beast and frantically searched for an opening to shoot Garos’s man.
“Auntie Mad, I’m scared!”
Maddy gasped and spun around to see Effy behind her, her little face crumpled with fear.
“Don’t be afraid! One of them is Matt!” Maddy cried. “Effy, go back upstairs!”
Effy didn’t move as she gaped at the fight erupting before her. Jaws were smashed, bones were snapped, blood was drawn. Matt raised his fearsome head long enough to roar, “Get her out of here, Mad!”
Maddy dropped the gun and grabbed Effy’s hand. “Hurry. You have to hide,” Maddy cried.
Effy screamed, her gaze riveted behind her aunt. Maddy spun around and froze. She saw Matt rising from the floor as the lycan vaulted toward her and Effy. Matt roared with rage and sprung with lightening speed toward the lycan and grappled him around his middle, dragging him back.
Matt and the lycan crashed into the living room and landed on the floor. The lycan dug his jaws into Matt’s arm and drew blood. Matt snarled and pushed the lycan off his with so much force, Garos’s man sailed through the air and smashed onto the wall next to Effy. She screamed and ran toward Matt, darting behind his massive legs.
The curse, Maddy thought with dread. It was happening right before her eyes. The lycan released an evil laugh and she jerked her gaze to him. He was staring at Maddy’s gun that was on the floor next to him. He picked it up and slowly aimed it at Matt and Effy.
“Garos will be pleased when I tell him I killed the powerful and mighty Matthew Walker,” the lycan said, in his eerie, gravelly voice. It dripped with malevolence and Maddy realised she was staring at evil incarnate. “Of course I can’t kill you with this gun, but the quicksilver will give me enough time to retrieve my silver that is outside.” His monstrous face turned to Maddy. “You see, it is common knowledge Leo’s family fights with quicksilver. Something to do with his arrogant assumption he can rehabilitate us.”
“Please, please don’t hurt them,” she sobbed.
“Or what? You’ll stop me? I think not, white witch. Your powers are new, not yet developed, otherwise you would have stopped this fight before it happened. Besides, Garos has no wish to hurt the child. She will be his insurance that you do as he says.”
Numb with fear, Maddy watched the lycan direct his attention to Matt. Maddy caught Matt’s gaze and she choked back on a rising sob. Anguish ravaged his face as he held her gaze, torment darkening his eyes. His mouth thinned as he turned and gathered Effy in his arms, shielding her body with his powerful, towering frame.
The gun went off at the same time something wild snapped in Maddy and she sprung in between Matt and the lycan.
“Maddy, no!” Matt roared.
In that dazed second, a ridiculous thought crossed her mind. All the talk about seeing someone’s life flash before their mind at the moment of death was true. Maddy saw it all, her life with her family, Effy, Matt. And the love she had for them welled in her breast. In that heart stopping second since the gun was fired, she also saw the future she would miss. A home and family with Matt, watching Effy grow up.
Maddy wanted her future. She wished to have children with Matt and to watch Effy graduate from college, get married, and have a family of her own.
In that heart stopping second, as the bullet r
aced toward her, she raised her hand, her palm facing the lycan. She squeezed her eyes, wishing for her happy ending. Maddy wanted to live in that future.
Go back, she thought. And then time stood still. She watched the bullet stop in mid flight and reverse direction. The lycan didn’t know what hit him as the bullet struck him. He fell to the ground.
Stunned, she stared at the fallen lycan and wondered what had just happened. She heard Matt growl, his arms going around her as Effy clutched Maddy’s arm. Dazed, Maddy raised a pair of stricken eyes to Matt.
“I think it happened again,” she whispered.
She ran her gaze over his chest, relieved to see his gashes and cuts had healed. Maddy placed an arm around Effy. “You were such a brave little girl,” she said, choking on a relieved sob. “You’re safe now.”
“Auntie Mad, you stopped the bullet.”
“I did, didn’t I,” she said, a tremor running through her voice. She gazed up into Matt’s monstrous face. She focused on his eyes and saw love warming their depths.
“I thought...dear God, I thought you were going to die,” he said, his eyes curiously bright.
“Look!” Effy cried, pointing on the floor next to the hall table. “There’s smoke coming out of that stick!”
Maddy snapped her gaze where Effy pointed and saw the wand lying on the floor. It must have slipped from the table during the fight. Billowy smoke rose from the wand. Suddenly, it burst into flame. She heard Matt’s quick intake of breath as she stared at the wand. The flames slowly disappeared and the wand disintegrated, leaving a pile of ash. She grabbed Matt’s arm, staring up at him. “The spell is broken.”
“Your act of self sacrifice destroyed the spell, Maddy. It’s over now.”
Sirens blared outside and Matt rose. She watched him reach for a throw rug from the couch and fasten it around his middle. He didn’t take his gaze off hers as he shifted back to his human. He took her hand and helped her rise as he gathered Effy in his other arm and lifted her to his side.
Maddy drew her arms around Matt and Effy and closed her eyes. “I love you both so much,” she said, her voice breaking.
Chapter Ten
It was later in the next day, Maddy felt somewhat relieved. She was sitting on the couch next to Matt while Effy was upstairs in her room playing.
“James told me Garos is not as willing to try another kidnapping attempt on you. There is a reason why no one has ever captured a white witch. Their power is feared by many.”
“My powers are still new.”
“True, but Garos sent us five of his strongest men and we defeated them. He won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“I suppose that should make me feel better.”
“The guards I will post around you is protocol. Leo established this precaution to ensure the safety of our families,” Matt said. She nodded, her mind still plagued by the task she had at hand. “Maddy, what is it?”
She sighed. “I don’t know how to tell Effy her aunt is going to turn into a beast today.”
“I see.”
“I should tell her right away. The more I wait, the more I lose my nerve.” She placed a kiss on his cheek and rose. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Matt nodded and she left him.
Maddy went upstairs and found Effy on her bed, playing with her dolls. “Honey, you should come downstairs. Wendy will be here shortly.”
“Okay.”
Minutes later, Maddy was seated next to Matt on the couch while Effy sat on the smaller couch next to them. “Honey, there’s something I have to tell you.” Maddy tried to keep the worry out of her tone and failed miserably. How did you tell a little girl her beloved auntie was going to turn into a monster when the full moon rose? It was late in the day and Matt had already informed her it would happen shortly. Maddy dreaded glancing at the clock.
Effy nodded. “I know what you want to tell me.”
Maddy frowned and shot Matt a startled look. “What do you mean, you know?” She asked, dragging her gaze back to Effy.
“You’re like Matt now,” her niece said. “Are you going to protect people, too, now?”
Maddy tried to compose herself. “Honey, what are you saying?”
Effy shrugged. “You’re like them now, the ones who protect us from the bad monsters.”
“Honey, how long have you known I’m like Matt?” Maddy asked. She gave him another fearful glance. He was as surprised as she was, but he remained silent.
“Since I started to hear it talk.”
Maddy was flabbergasted. “It? Who...what, honey?”
“Your other self. The one that’s hiding and can’t wait to come out today.”
Stunned, Maddy couldn’t speak. Thankfully, Matt was more controlled that she was.
“What did you hear it say?” He asked calmly.
Maddy couldn’t believe how composed he was. Her niece was looking at Matt with a small smile on her face.
“That it loves you and me. Yours says that all the time, too. That it loves me and Auntie Mad.”
Maddy inhaled sharply as she tried to grasp what was happening. “Hon, you’re not afraid of what I’ll turn into?”
“No, but I’m afraid of the bad ones.”
Maddy gathered her niece in her arms and held her gently. “We all are, honey, but I don’t want you to worry. Matt and I will take care of you. When you go out for ice cream with Wendy, a man who works with Matt will watch you two and make sure you’re both safe. Just remember what you and I talked about. You cannot tell Wendy about the man Matt assigned to protect you and you especially can’t mention what happened here yesterday.”
“I know, Auntie Mad. I won’t.”
“Good girl.” The doorbell rang and Maddy rose, looking down at her niece. “That’s Wendy, honey.”
A few minutes later, after Maddy gave her niece a big hug and told her to enjoy her outing for ice cream, she was back in the living room with Matt.
“I hate that I had to send Effy away, but I don’t want her here when I transform. I don’t know how she’s going to react.”
“If she wasn’t frightened of me yesterday, she won’t be frightened of you.”
Maddy offered him a small smile. “She told me this morning you look like the beast in Beauty and the Beast, minus all that hair.”
Matt smiled. “Come here.” He took her in his arms and held her. “Your niece is a remarkable little girl. You do realise with her powers, she will be a force to be reckoned with one day.”
“I wanted her to have a normal life.”
“Maddy, life has never been normal. For centuries, we’ve kept the truth from the humans because they have never been ready to accept it. At least your niece is going to grow up with clear eyes.”
She drew in a shaky breath and nodded. “It’s funny how I’m the one who’s frightened and about my transformation, not Effy.”
“It lasts only a moment and afterwards you shift only when you want to. Lycans control their turning.”
Maddy nodded. “When does it happen?” Suddenly a piercing flood of heat and cold flooded her senses and she gasped. “What was that?”
Love softened his eyes. “It’s happening. Please do not be alarmed. I will be here with you the whole time until it is over.”
She drew strength from his words and nodded as another wave of heat and ice flowed through her veins. Stunned, she felt her skin stretch and her bones expand, as she rose in height, towering over Matt. Frightened, she reached for him and gasped when she saw her hand. Her gasp sounded like a snarl as she stared at her monstrous hand, its talons razor sharp. She stiffened as she saw the end of her snout and she raised her monstrous hand to her face. Another snarl escaped her and she stared down at Matt, her heart pounding in her she-lycan chest.
“I’m so glad Effy isn’t here to see this.” Maddy growled her surprise. Her voice! It sounded eerie, hollow.
Matt reached up and braced her monstrous face with his hands. “I see you in your eyes, my love. You’re stil
l Maddy and I love you.”
She gazed down at him and smiled, wondering ridiculously what a monster looked like when it smiled. Suddenly, her body reverted back to its human. When the transformation was complete, she exhaled a relieved breath.
“Thank God that’s over,” she said. “I won’t be changing into that anytime soon.”
Matt ran a slow, passionate gaze over her naked breasts and her heart fluttered. Desire darkened his face. “You better get dressed. Your niece will be back shortly.”
Maddy reached up and kissed him on the mouth. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he growled. “Now go put some clothes on.”
She smiled. “You can help me get dressed, you know.”
He planted a hard kiss on her mouth. “That will only torture me, my lovely.”
Her face grew serious. “Matt?”
“Yes, my love.”
“I want you to know how happy I am.”
Matt cupped her face with his hand and gazed tenderly into her eyes. “As am I.”
Epilogue
“When do you want to get married? I must warn you, however, I will not wait one year,” Matt said later that night.
Maddy smiled, curling herself closer to his side on the couch. “How does next month sound?”
“Perfect.”
Effy strolled into the living room and Maddy smiled at her. “Can we watch a movie, Auntie Mad?”
“Sure, hon. Come here.”
Maddy opened her arms and Effy rushed toward her. Her niece climbed onto her lap as Maddy wrapped her arms around her niece and kissed the top of her head. “Comfy?”
“Mm,” Effy said.
Matt rose and strode to all the DVDs. He pulled out Beauty and the Beast from the pile and showed it to Effy. “How about this one?”
“Yes,” Effy said, nodding eagerly.
Maddy watched Matt place the movie in the DVD player. In a short time, they had all become a family. She sighed with deep content as she watched Matt return to the couch. His expression was warm as his gaze locked with hers. He lowered himself next to her as the movie started.
Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4 Page 9
